(CNN Español) – The Government of Javier Milei announced the departure of Diana Mondino from the Foreign Ministry after a decision made by the minister against the official position: Argentina voted in favor of a resolution of the UN General Assembly against the United States embargo on Cuba.
The text of the resolution to which Argentina adhered, among other things, describes the policy towards the island as “illegal” and reaffirms “the sovereign equality of the States, non-intervention and non-interference in their internal affairs and freedom of trade.” and international navigation, enshrined in numerous international legal instruments.”
Of the 190 countries that voted on the document, only the US and Israel did so in the opposite direction, precisely the two nations that Milei considers its main allies in foreign policy matters.
Although the Argentine support coincided with a position that different governments in the country have held for more than three decades against embargoes in general, it directly contradicts the president, reason enough to end Mondino’s shaky management at the head of the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
“Argentina is going through a period of profound changes, and this new stage requires that our diplomatic corps reflect in every decision the values of freedom, sovereignty and individual rights that characterize Western democracies,” said the statement announcing Mondino’s resignation.
“Our country is categorically opposed to the Cuban dictatorship and will remain firm in promoting a foreign policy that condemns all regimes that perpetuate the violation of human rights and individual freedoms,” he added. One of the reasons for Argentina’s position against embargoes is the concept that these sanctions affect the population of the sanctioned country more than their governments.
The multiple diplomatic scandals that Milei himself was involved in with countries such as Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Chile made Mondino’s task difficult during his ten months in office. However, some unforced errors by the minister eroded her relationship with the Executive and precipitated her departure, which comes as an announced end.
A week ago, the former chancellor was in the eye of the storm following a statement from her portfolio in which she referred to the Malvinas Islands as Falklands, the name given to them in the United Kingdom, and generated strong condemnation from different sectors.
The text, later deleted, announced a meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross to identify the remains of those who fell in the Falklands War in 1982.
The official had to give explanations in this regard. He denied that the islands had been called “by another name,” and assured that “work is being done to recover them.”
“Regarding the malicious version, published on the Government website, we are identifying the person responsible to fire him. “We are going to go thoroughly against anyone who, guided by leftist ideology, attacks the interests of Argentines,” he clarified.
The letter had in turn been replicated by the Ministry of Defense, headed by Luis Petri, who also had to express himself on this issue.
In an interview with Radio Miter, Petri said that “the original newsletter would have been manipulated, the text would have been changed and this improper name would have been incorporated.”
“I instructed the preparation of a summary because there is a difference between the text prepared by the Foreign Ministry and the one that is uploaded,” he added, and assured that this manipulation of the content should not occur, “given that Defense did not participate in the meeting.”
Along the same lines as Mondino, Petri expressed that what they are looking for is to “eject the person responsible.”
This was not the only time that issues related to the archipelago earned Mondino friction with the Government.
In September, Vice President Victoria Villarruel harshly criticized an agreement signed with the United Kingdom. Among other things, this sought to resume the negotiations of the Humanitarian Project Plan with the International Red Cross to identify fallen soldiers, and organize a trip for the relatives of those killed in combat.
“Do they take us for fools? “They obtain material, concrete and immediate advantages, while they offer us crumbs as emotional consolation and weaken our possibility of negotiation,” the vice president said then.
Mondino also had setbacks at the regional level. On August 2, days after the elections in Venezuela, the then foreign minister posted a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter) in which he recognized Edmundo González as president-elect.
However, hours later, the official accounts of the Foreign Ministry issued a new message that clarified the official position: “The Argentine Republic follows the events in Venezuela with extreme attention and concern in order to make a definitive statement.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed his official position only on August 7, with strong support for González Urrutia. Another contradiction in the management of Argentina’s international relations was thus exposed.
Mondino was already arriving at these comings and goings having starred in a scandal months ago, when in May he assured that “the Chinese are all the same.”
That phrase arose within the framework of his visit to Paris to participate in meetings of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Days before, the minister had met in Beijing with her counterpart Wang Yi, who had highlighted Argentina as a “strategic partner.”
The statements arose after an interview with the newspaper Clarín, where she was consulted about the inspections that the Government carried out at that time on a Chinese space base in the province of Neuquén. Their purpose was to confirm that their activities were exclusively civil and not military.
“No one detected that there were military personnel there (…), those who investigated did not identify that there were military personnel. “They are Chinese, they are all the same,” he said.
His subsequent clarification on Radio Miter revolved around that point, where he considered that the phrase could have been taken out of context, and outlined a defense: “Those who participated are all the same, they are all civilians. We are talking about the visit to the Chinese space station in Neuquén, which was a few days ago and I highlighted the civilian nature of the personnel, that there were no uniforms. The Argentines were also all the same, none of them were in uniform,” he said.
These incidents were wearing down the Government’s relationship with the Foreign Ministry, something that translated into some recent gestures. For example, Mondino was excluded from the G7 delegation and from the last official tour to France, in which the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, held meetings with the first lady, Brigitte Macron, and the Minister of Economy, Antoine Armand.
All these tensions escalated until reaching the change of command in the Foreign Ministry, which was accompanied by another announcement from the Government, the beginning of an “audit of the career staff of the Foreign Ministry, with the objective of identifying promoters of agendas that are enemies of freedom.”
The confirmation of Mondino’s departure was accompanied by the name of his replacement. Gerardo Werthein arrives after leaving his duties as ambassador to the US, a role that kept him close to Milei, whom he accompanied in key meetings.
He also joined presidential delegations in some high-caliber meetings, such as meetings with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, at the G7 summit, and with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, in July, during his official visit to Paris. .
Despite this, Gerardo Werthein’s foray as an Argentine representative abroad involves a small part of his professional career.
A renowned businessman, he dedicated much of his life to business. In fact, his family is the founder of the Werthein Group, a holding company in which different branches of that family coexist today, with an important local and international presence that works in varied areas, ranging from agribusiness, food and beverages, to entertainment, technology, health, real estate developments and insurance.
Werthein not only has an extensive career in the business field, but has made a long journey in Argentine sports.
His doctorate in Veterinary Medicine coincides with his beginnings as a competitor in equestrian sports. His career in these disciplines allowed him to be team leader in the Argentine delegations of different international competitions, such as the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Furthermore, as president of Haras El Capricho, he is part of the organization of an important equestrian event that since 1999 has brought together riders from all over the world.
Between 2009 and 2021 he was president of the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) and was later awarded the title of honorary president. He even held different roles in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that allowed him, among other things, to join the coordination commissions for the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
At the local level, he promoted the creation of the National High Performance Sports Entity (Enard), which he led between 2010 and 2021. From this place, along with his role in the COA, he was an important player in the organization of the Olympic Games of the Youth Buenos Aires 2018.
